Google Ads Demand Gen Campaigns: Placements, Performance Max Difference, Creative and Budgets

Question 1

What are Demand Gen campaigns and where do my ads appear?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, Demand Gen is an AI-powered campaign type designed to reach people before they start searching, while Search campaigns capture existing intent. The article states ads appear across YouTube including Shorts, in-stream, in-feed, and Home, Gmail in Social and Promotions tabs, Google Discover, and as of 2026, Google Maps through promoted pins. These placements collectively reach over 3 billion monthly users.

Question 2

What is the difference between Demand Gen and Performance Max?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, Performance Max is a full-funnel, cross-channel type that runs across every Google surface, including Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps, with minimal control and aggressive optimization for conversions. Demand Gen is a mid-to-upper funnel type that runs only across YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps, with significantly more control over audience targeting, creative execution, and placement selection. The article summarizes the distinction as Performance Max captures existing demand while Demand Gen creates new demand, so they are complementary, not competing.

Question 3

What image sizes do I need for Demand Gen campaigns?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, Demand Gen image ads require landscape images (1200 x 628 pixels), square images (1200 x 1200 pixels), and portrait images (960 x 1200 pixels). As of late February 2025, the article states you can also run 9:16 vertical image ads on YouTube Shorts, with a maximum file size of 5MB per image. The article reports Google recommends providing at least 3 images per format to give the AI enough creative variety to optimise.

Question 4

How do lookalike audiences work in Demand Gen?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, lookalike audiences are Demand Gen's signature targeting feature, built by uploading a seed audience such as your customer list, website visitors, or app users for Google to expand to users with similar characteristics and behaviours. The article states you can choose from narrow, balanced, or broad lookalike expansion levels. Lookalike audiences are exclusively available in Demand Gen and cannot be used in PMax, Search, or any other campaign type.

Question 5

Why do Demand Gen results look worse than Search and how should I measure them?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, Demand Gen operates in the upper and mid funnel, so users may see an ad on YouTube and later search and convert through Search, leaving Demand Gen undervalued under last-click attribution. The article recommends evaluating view-through conversions, assisted conversions, brand lift, and attributed branded searches, a new metric available since January 2026. For true incrementality, the article recommends running for at least 4 to 6 weeks and using Conversion Lift experiments, now available at lower spend thresholds.

Question 6

How much budget should I allocate to Demand Gen?

Accepted Answer

According to the article, Google's recommended Power Pack structure for 2026 suggests Performance Max for full-funnel reach at typically 50 to 60% of budget for ecommerce and 30 to 40% for B2B and services, AI Max for Search at 30 to 40% of budget, and Demand Gen at 10 to 20% of budget initially, scaling as you prove ROI. The article states optimal allocation shifts daily and cites a minimum viable budget of approximately $50 per day for a single Demand Gen campaign. The article recommends starting smaller, proving incrementality through Conversion Lift experiments, and scaling from there.